Browser-local chats are not encrypted by the server vault.
Usage APIs report unconnected services as unavailable. Metering is implemented internally but is not connected to live inference or provider invoices.
Account administration and pricing review
Added
A local admin dashboard with persistent account controls, roles, suspension, session revocation, password replacement, draft profiles, and audit history.
Expiring, revocable promotional credit grants funded by Locale, with no customer charge and idempotent retries.
Saved startup funding and cash-flow projections, including model funding, Box commitments, hosting, and promotional credit liability.
Proposed static hosting on Keep, Sync, and Cloud, account inference on Sync and Cloud, and a Box worker on Cloud.
Changed
Landing pricing previews Keep at $5, Sync at $10, Cloud at $25, and an owner-enabled Access offer at $3, pending approval.
The Agent section appears directly below Features, explains browser and paired phone use, and the top-right Download Agent link is removed.
Prices and allowances remain proposals. Existing account offers and pending checkout selections are unchanged.
Cloud inference, storage, site publishing, device sync, worker provisioning, credit spending, and billing remain unconnected. Saved grants do not run models.
Account-based admin access requires an assigned role and explicit HTTPS server configuration. Local bypass is disabled in production.
Provider spending is not connected. Forecasts use assumptions and exclude unentered labor, tax, payout delays, and provider capacity changes.
Get Started with a recorded introduction
Added
The browser app opens a normal introductory chat with a genuine Muse Spark 1.3 response generated through OpenCode. Recorded playback makes no model request.
The introduction includes browser tools, optional Agent features, limits, and three starter projects, with visible recorded-response attribution.
A first-use confirmation is required before Nano sessions can download or run the on-device model.
Changed
Renamed browser entry buttons Get Started and placed Sign in before the header button.
Moved Pricing into the main navigation and View pricing below the hero buttons.
Removed the hero account requirement line and simplified the local-compute description.
The browser app now uses /web. Existing /try links redirect to the new route.
Account pages hide the header Get Started and Download Agent actions.
The dismissible Back banner appears only for Get Started navigation; direct and account local access open without it.
Limitations
Live browser replies require a supported Chrome Prompt API and device. The recorded introduction can be read without Nano.
Playback timing is simulated. The recording is attributed to Muse Spark 1.3, not Nano.
Browser storage must persist to remember introduction completion and on-device consent across visits.
A local harness for first steps and long-term projects
Changed
The landing page presents Locale as a local AI harness for small workloads and large, long-term projects.
Browser and Agent descriptions distinguish free introductory agentic coding with Gemini Nano from multi-model orchestration for power users.
Limitations
Model groups, task delegation, local Ollama models, and device tools require an open Agent.
Accounts, cloud plans, and updated website
Added
Working account registration, sign-in, sign-out, and a dashboard for saving a plan selection before checkout.
Sample models grouped by Chrome, Ollama, OpenCode, and Grok.
A dark illustrative workspace matching the current interface, using sample content.
Changed
Renamed the plans Keep, Sync, and Cloud, preserving existing selections. Keep emphasizes $5 for the first month, then $10/month.
Cloud includes monthly inference credits through a third-party provider and a Box VM under one subscription. Final allowances remain to be announced.
The browser action is now Use It. Header actions include Download Agent, View Pricing, and Sign in.
Removed the harness suffix beside the Locale wordmark, added the no-account requirement checkmark, and described local compute and Kickbacks.ai earnings.
Limitations
Checkout is a placeholder. No charges, inference credits, cloud storage, device sync, or VMs are activated by registration or plan selection.
Email verification, password recovery, and public account hosting are not yet available.
Cloud model, credit, and VM allocations are not finalized. Research estimates are proposals, not included allowances.
One source for interface colours
Changed
Every interface colour token is now defined in one stylesheet instead of two, so a theme or accent value has a single place to read and change.
Buttons take their fill and hover colours from the accent tokens, so the selected accent applies to them instead of always showing violet.
Fixed
Restored hover and panel backgrounds that rendered as transparent because they referred to colour tokens that were never defined.
Raised the contrast of text on filled accent backgrounds, which fell below the accessibility minimum in dark mode and on the amber accent.
Limitations
This is an internal styling change. Layout, wording, and behaviour are unchanged.
Models included with Ensemble
Changed
Ensemble includes models alongside its cloud-hosted harness, 1 TB of storage, and device sync for $60/month.
Keep and Locale Cloud continue to require Chrome’s foundation model or an Agent connection and do not include model access.
Limitations
Subscriptions and cloud services remain in development. Ensemble’s model selection and usage limits are not yet published.
Quieter sponsored turns and clearer model pickers
Changed
Primary and consultation pickers share search, clear, and header controls using existing UI primitives. Clearing a search preserves model selections.
Ship It and Deep use matching option rows below Consultation inside the model-selection popup. Consultation includes an adjacent arrow to choose advisors without a separate models row.
Model favorites and Deep controls use keyboard-accessible Locale tooltips. Provider variants are distinguished from native thinking controls.
Fixed
Narrow chat headers keep their title and actions separate, including zoomed viewports.
Empty model searches no longer imply that a provider is disconnected.
Kickbacks.ai inventory retries stop after three attempts per user turn, with increasing backoff. Thinking phases and focus changes cannot reset the budget or rotate a served creative.
Limitations
Company accents use supplied brand colors or readable icon pixels, with a neutral fallback. Inventory and settled earnings remain vendor-dependent.
No paid ad metrics or full live model matrix were tested for this update.
Updated plans, tool descriptions, and provider branding
Added
Descriptions of file tools, previews, browser history, command execution, model consultation, task tracking, and model management, with runtime requirements.
Original provider logos served locally, including the Kickbacks.ai brand.
Changed
Removed the public benchmark section and downloads. Historical research remains in the repository.
The browser trial return link is now Home.
Keep is $5 for the first month, then $10/month for 50 GB without sync. Locale Cloud replaces Reach at $15/month for 100 GB with sync. Ensemble is $60/month for 1 TB with sync and a fully cloud-hosted harness.
Keep and Locale Cloud require the Chrome foundation model or an Agent connection. Ensemble adds cloud hosting. The initial Ensemble model exclusion was corrected in release 2026-09-06-ensemble-model-access.
Limitations
Cloud checkout, storage, device sync, and Ensemble hosting are planned and not yet available.
Files and models on your own computer still require an open Agent.
Context Broker and bounded task completion
Added
Opt-in Locale Context Broker with an independently selected worker, local-only routing by default, and exact source excerpts with hashes and locations.
Browser candidate files with isolated generation, focused diff review, validation, and revision-checked promotion that preserves concurrent user changes.
Ship It mode with bounded completion checks and repeated-action protection.
Changed
File tools return concise write receipts, bounded reads and search results, and focused paginated diffs.
Consultation selection stays beside the primary model popup and remains open until dismissed. Busy shared models link to the chat using them.
Fixed
Kickbacks.ai uses a single sponsored placement per user turn instead of refreshing with each thinking phase, and is disabled during loop execution.
Kickbacks.ai v2 readiness and native inventory handling, with honest Locale client identification.
Sponsored composer uses the vendor company icon and its supplied brand color or a color sampled from that icon. Missing assets use a stable fallback. Short turns do not flash an ad, and focus changes cannot bypass retry backoff.
Nano recovery validates observed preview references and candidate handles instead of accepting invented IDs.
Limitations
Context Broker is off by default. Device candidate staging, a complete cross-provider billing ledger, adaptive routing, and measured end-to-end savings are not included.
No Portal service, adapter, or dependency is integrated.
Nano completed source inspection and candidate generation/review, but stalled before end-to-end candidate validation and promotion. Model reliability is not guaranteed.
Kickbacks.ai inventory and settled earnings are vendor-dependent. Paid impression settlement was not tested.
Website, browser trial, and public release notes
Added
Product website with features, local and connected model options, published benchmark results, and Agent downloads.
Dedicated browser-only trial using Chrome's foundation model with Agent connections and backend sync disabled.
Subscription offers: Locale Keep at $5/month for 50 GB without device sync; Locale Reach at $10/month for 100 GB with device sync; Locale Ensemble at $100/month for 1 TB with device sync and exclusive discounted inference/model access.
Changed
The standalone website opens the product page. Locale Agent continues to open the full workspace.
Limitations
Cloud checkout, storage, subscription entitlements, remote internet sync, and discounted inference are not yet implemented. No subscriptions are sold by this release.
Chrome's foundation model requires a supported desktop browser, available Prompt API, suitable hardware, and an initial model download.
Published model benchmarks are historical internal trials with simulated file/tool effects, not general model rankings or performance guarantees.
Model groups and browser workspaces
Added
Reusable Agent Groups with a primary model, consultants, instructions, and bounded background delegation.
Per-chat model consultation, model favorites, throughput observations, and context usage.
Sandbox project files, previews, task tracking, and browser-local snapshot history.
Changed
Browser-only settings show capabilities available without Locale Agent.
Agent Group edits synchronize linked chats while preserving their histories.
Fixed
Recovery of legacy project-child Scratch files into their project workspace while preserving conflicts and original records.
Kickbacks.ai consent renewal handling and separate notices for empty, incompatible, or expired ad inventory.
Limitations
Snapshot history in Sandbox is separate from real Git repositories on Device workspaces.
Kickbacks.ai requires explicit consent and eligible vendor inventory. Earnings and ad availability are not guaranteed.
Multi-provider concurrent live delegation has not been exhaustively tested.
Locale